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As expected, the pressure that began to build on Juan Soto from the past Subway Series against the New York Yankees, has caused the New York Mets player to be in a slump along with his team, which has not managed to recover from the two defeats against the Bronx Bombers, and now suffers the ravages of another pair of setbacks against the Boston Red Sox.
It was also predictable that other narratives would prevail around the Dominican player, after this bad streak of his team, as the fans and critics do not forgive any failure, any drop in performance, let alone in a player who is costing the organization a monstrous amount of millions.
The pressure on Soto is relentless
The 'lack of effort' that multiple voices accuse Soto of is nothing more than a reflection of this demand, which in many cases is not justified and obeys a pressure that demands the maximum performance with this single element of judgment, overlooking the fact that any human being is susceptible to highs and lows, no matter how much he is in a position of privilege like the one enjoyed by the Dominican.
One of the voices that opposes this chorus is that of a former baseball player who knows what pressure is and also knows what it is to triumph in the Major Leagues, where he became the highest paid in his time, the legendary Pedro Martinez, a Dominican pitcher who made history with the Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies.
The advice of a legend
"Juan Soto: I was once the highest-paid player and it took me a while to adjust. Nobody thinks about the human being wearing the uniform. There are things that can distract you. We forget how young he is," he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) after seeing the great difficulties experienced by the Mets in their 2-0 loss to Boston, in which Soto went 0-for-3 in the batter's box.
Soto has a lot to prove, but as Martinez says, it's a matter of daily adaptation, and a lot of patience and wisdom to handle the pressure, something that Soto can certainly do, because talent is what he has in abundance.